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Moose Make It Six In Week 23

March 17, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with two victories over the Hershey Bears this past week. A total team effort, including a shutout and 63 total saves by rookie goalie Cory Schneider, helped the club sweep their five-game road trip -- a trip highlighted by only two goals against and zero opponent three-stars selections.

Saturday, March 15, 2008: Manitoba 5 - Hershey 0 W

The Bears faced a perfect storm in the Moose Saturday night. Led by Brad Moran and Mike Brown with two goals each, Manitoba's forwards produced five goals on 33 shots, including three in the second period. Not to be outdone by his offensive teammates, Schneider was perfect at the opposite end of the ice, making 33 saves to register his second shutout in three games.

Sunday, March 16, 2008: Manitoba 3 - Hershey 1 W

Riding high from the previous night's 5-0 blowout, the Moose earned a 3-1 win over the Bears in Sunday's matinee rematch. The victory extended the club's winning streak to a season-high six games, concluded a perfect five-game road trip, and marked Schneider's eighth consecutive win.

This week, the Moose hope to keep the winning streak alive and improve their 18-12-1-3 home record in two mid-week games vs. the San Antonio Rampage at the MTS Centre.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Wednesday, Mar. 19 & Thursday, Mar. 20: The Moose are winless in two games vs. the Rampage (36-20-3-7, 2nd West) so far this season. Manitoba's losses on Jan. 13 & 15/08 in San Antonio marked the first time the club had failed to earn a point at SBC Center since Nov. 5/03 (4-1L). Manitoba carries an all-time record of 10-7-1-4 into tonight's game, including a 5-2-0-3 record in Winnipeg. Last season, the Moose split their home series vs. San Antonio on Jan. 17 & 19/07. Matt Murley tops the Rampage leaderboard with 17 goals and 50 points in 63 games, while Michael Leighton is the club's top netminder with a 24-21-4 record, 2.04 GAA, 0.933 SV%, and six shutouts.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#35 Cory Schneider - Goaltender

For the second week in a row, rookie Cory Schneider is the nominee for Moose Player of the Week. This week, with Drew MacIntyre out with the flu, Schneider appeared in two games straight games against the Hershey Bears and extended his personal winning streak to eight games. In the two games at Hershey, Schneider stopped 63 of 64 shots and has now allowed only nine goals during this eight-game streak. On Saturday, he stopped all 33 shots he faced for his second shutout this season and second in as many weeks. Then on Sunday, he made 30 saves to backstop the Moose to another win. As a result, the Moose have now won six games in a row with Schneider appearing in five of those games. His goals against average was 0.50 for the second week in a row, while his save percentage was .984 this week.

In the month of March alone, Schneider is 5-0-0 with an amazing goals against average of 0.60 and a save percentage of .977 and has stopped 126 of his last 129 shots in his last four starts. He has now run his seasonal record to 16-10-1 and is 13-3-1 since Dec. 15. As a result, he has now climbed all the way up to 10th in the AHL in goals against average with a 2.35 GAA and 17th in save percentage with a .914 save %.

MOOSE NOTES

SETTING THE SIX-GAME STANDARD: By earning a 3-1 win in Hershey Sunday afternoon, Manitoba extended their winning streak to six games, went eight straight games gaining a point, and improved their record to 11-2-0-1 in their past 14 games. The last time the Moose won six games in a row was Feb. 25 - Mar.18/07, when the team registered eight straight wins. That streak came on the heels of nine consecutive wins (Feb. 3-23/07), only one win short of tying the franchise record (10 games, set Oct. 18 - Nov.17/00). The club has gone as long as 13 straight games gaining a point (Nov. 6 - Dec. 4/98).

ROAD WARRIORS: Sunday's win in Hershey also set this season's record for longest road winning streak at six games (dating back to Feb. 24 at Peoria, 4-2W) and marked the first time in franchise history that the club has swept a road trip longer than four games. Manitoba's next-best road trips were two undefeated four-game stretches (Jan. 11-16/05 & Feb. 24-28/99), as well as a seven-game trip in which the club went 5-0-0-2 to earn a point in every game (Mar. 3-15/98). The current Moose squad has won 11 of their past 13 road games, improving their record to 20-12-1-0 (.621) when playing away from the MTS Centre. The club is 18-12-1-3 (.588) at home. Over six AHL seasons, Manitoba's best road record was 22-12-2-4 (.625) in 2004-05, marking the first and last time the team finished with a better record on the road than at home. Last season, the Moose were 20-13-4-3 (.588) when playing away from the MTS Centre.

KILLING ON THE PK: In 13 games dating back to Feb. 20/08 at Chicago, Manitoba has allowed only two powerplay goals on 43 opportunities and carries an eight-game streak of perfect penalty killing into this week's games. In that time, the club has jumped from 14th (83.3%) to 6th (84.9%) in overall penalty killing. Manitoba's only PK hiccup in the past 12 games was Feb. 27 vs. Hershey, when the club allowed two powerplay goals on four opportunities. Last season, the Moose finished first in the AHL by killing 89.7% of opponent powerplays, but the team never went longer than five games without a powerplay goal against.

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